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OrangePolitics.org

Approaching March Madness by air

Was there a major basketball game this weekend? Did it mean heavier use of Horace Williams Airport? This graph from flightaware.com covers the most recent weeks' air traffic per hour.

This is old news for most people, but thought it might be interesting to see it represented this way. Still convinced that this airport will remain open indefinitely - because the RDU project may be suspended indefinitely, because funding for CN continues to be a major issue, and because even if closing it might save the University (and taxpayers) some money, users will never allow closure. Not as long as UNC is in the running for March Madness, anyway.

That image was downloaded yesterday, when it was current, so yes, Week 10 was last week, including the weekend. It shows together on the same graph the number of arrivals by the hour, the number of departures, and then the total of both taken together. I do think it's a little hard to read, given that arrivals are depicted in white with black border on a white background. But you get the idea. Here is the graph (as of today) of the recent week -- larger so maybe you can see better. If you want to poke around on the website, you have to register (free) but here it is: http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KIGX When you get to the main page for Horace Williams (IGX), there will be a grey box to the left of the radar screen with a similar graph - and below it you can click on the length of time you want to see graphed. It obviously doesn't distinguish who's coming or going from those who arrive and stay put or leave and never come back, but it's a fair indicator of overall activity.